In the early-morning shadow of , Sept. 27, the day Hurricane Helene barreled through their , South Georgia , association area, Gloria and Ramón huddled with their three children in the living space of the mother’s video house, as roaring 130-mph winds downed a tree onto one of the bedrooms with a terrible crack. The family ran toward their vehicles in a fit of stress.
” We thought the storm would really blow us both aside”, Ramón, a 42-year-old Mexican refugee, said.
In this small town near the border of Florida, Ramon and Gloria are surrounded by colorful blue umbrellas, a substitute for the sheet metal buildings that are scattered about in damaged shapes, along with the dirt roads that snake through their neighborhoods.
These people are extremely hungry farmworkers. Helene never only battered the city’s sick housing stock, but also devastated the areas that laborers rely on for revenue. Weeks in the drop that are usually spent picking peppers, chili, cucumber, eggplant and cabbage came and went without function, and without wages.
” We were left without labor, without anything”, Gloria, 44, from , Guatemala, said. ” The grounds are ruined”.
Gloria and Ramón are illegal immigrants without function enables or legal standing. They, like others in the , Lake Park , group, spoke to , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , for this narrative on state that their last names not be used because they fear imprisonment.
Hurricane Helene caused , approximately$ 6.5 billion in damage , to the country’s agriculture and forestry sectors, according to preliminary evaluations by the , Georgia Department of Agriculture, the , Georgia Forestry Commission, and the , University of Georgia.
Gloria and Ramón are among the fortunate few who were given ceiling repairs, but it took more than a month to complete them.
Three weeks later, the family was exposed to crowds of mosquitoes as they slept on a bed in the kitchen when the trees that crashed through their room was n’t cut down. The family’s$ 800 quarterly rent remained despite the storm’s effects, which included 15 weeks without power or water.
Most people are still waiting to be called up to the grounds, despite the fact that some men have occasionally been able to find construction work. They are concerned about the start of the flower planting season before receiving a fresh money. However, some have burned through their benefits to spring for generators and oil, and to continue making lease payments.
We wo n’t receive any assistance, it says.
Agricultural workers has brought the , Lake Park , expat community an intimate acquaintance with South Georgia’s weather designs.
Standing amid Hurricane Helene’s dirt on an , unusually warm , morning in early November, laborers expressed a sense of both problems and bafflement. Many people are starting to consider leaving after being deeply affected by Hurricane Idalia’s impact on the area just last month, which could cause problems for fields that will soon be back in operation and require employees.
When my children inquire as to whether a new storm is coming, I respond that I do n’t know. That possibly, yes”, said , Victoria, 39, from , Mexico. She has eight youngsters, ranging in age from 5 to 13. She claimed that many of the family’s members incurred heat sores as a result of their lack of power and cooling.
” Three-hundred sixty hours” , , Victoria , said,” I wrote it down”.
To put food on the table in the wake of Hurricane Helene, unskilled laborers like , Victoria , have relied on donation and on the food stamp benefits, for which their , U. S. born babies are available.
When a grower’s grain or animal is wiped out, government support and coverage are important sources of help. Earlier this month, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announced ,$ 100 million in disaster relief for farmers. Indemnities to , Georgia , growers from the federal government have  , exceeded$ 200 million.
Farmworkers claim that none of that money helps them as it proceeds.
” The farmers are insured. But not us. If we do n’t work, we do n’t get paid. We have to work to earn any money”, said Adelina, a mother of three, also from , Mexico.
Speaking just days after , Donald Trump , was elected president, immigrant farmworkers in , Lake Park , said they worry about the coming administration that will likely be even less open to assisting people like them.
” We’re not going to get any help. Even less now that Trump got back in”, said Eduviges, 52. ” He’s going to tell us to go back to Mexico”.
Eduviges lives in a trailer with four relatives. They have a tarp to protect their home after the storm’s metal roof, but water still pours in every time. They have had to replace ruined mattresses and beds with a soiled sofa. Their washing machine broke. During the nearly one-month-long power outage that followed Hurricane Helene, snakes entered the home, she claimed.
” The good thing is that we’re at least all alive”, Eduviges said.
” This hurricane brought me to poverty,” I said.
On a recent Tuesday, aid workers with the , United Farm Workers Foundation , and two student volunteers from , Valdosta State University , set up tables near , Victoria , and Adelina’s trailers in , Lake Park, where they placed bags of groceries for farmworkers to take.
Numerous local families gathered for the donation drive, where the children chatted in English and Spanish while their parents exchanged Spanish and Mixtec, an indigenous language. Additionally, a group of stray dogs passed by.
After bringing the donated groceries into her home, Adelina said,” This hurricane brought me poverty. While her wait for a roof replacement continues, water stains are growing on the trailer’s walls. If mold propagates inside, it could pose , serious health risks  , to her 12-year-old son, who is asthmatic.
According to , Alma Young,  , Georgia , organizing coordinator with the , United Farm Workers Foundation, the bulk of post-Helene recovery efforts in , South Georgia , have taken place near urban centers such as , Tifton , or , Douglas, making them inaccessible to farmworker communities who live in more remote areas.
When donation drives have taken place closer to farmworker residences, Young says they were n’t widely advertised in Spanish, causing many to miss out. Her organization is calling on , Congress , to include farmworkers in any upcoming disaster relief legislation.
She said that “farmers are still receiving no help at all.” ” It’s just been very frustrating to see that, once again, the farmworker community is just sort of forgotten”.
Another challenge: Law enforcement participation was a big part of the numerous food and supply drives that took place right after the storm.
Some undocumented residents find that to be terrifying. Earlier this year, Kemp , signed a bill that calls for closer collaboration , between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.
Ines, a farmworker and a mother of three, spent 17 years living in , South Georgia. She said it weighed on her to go to the drinking water distribution site that had been set up in , Lake Park , after the hurricane because members of the , National Guard , were there. She went anyways.
” When you’re in need, you have to take a risk”, she said. ” I did it for my kids”.
Food drives of the kind that was recently organized by the , UFW Foundation , are becoming ever more rare, even as the need for assistance remains. Meanwhile, the trauma of the storm also lingers.
” It rained a lot yesterday, and she was afraid”, Ramón said of his youngest daughter, who is 6. ” It’s like that memory ]of Hurricane Helene ] is still there. She wanted to cry while holding me. My son]who is 13 ] also got scared.’ What’s going to happen?’ he said”.
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